20 Lessons From 500 FAS Podcast Episodes: What I Learned Building An RIA From Scratch In My 20s

Building an advisory firm from scratch is extremely difficult in the best of circumstances. While CFP educational programs teach the knowledge of financial planning, they don’t teach the practice of it – and there’s remarkably little established training or curriculum. From figuring out how to find or attract prospects in the first place, to establishing and operationalizing your planning process, investment approach, and overall value proposition, while still finding time to not just work in the business but also work on the business – these are all challenges commonly faced by advisor-owners. Fortunately, though, we can learn from other advisors who have generously shared their experiences.

In this guest post, Jeremy Eppley of Silverstone Financial shares some of the key milestones of his growth journey, as told through the lens of lessons he gleaned and then applied to his practice while listening to all 500 episodes of the Financial Advisor Success podcast. He highlights 20 episodes as a starting point for those who want to binge on the most salient practice management lessons (and another 30 ‘bonus’ episodes for those who want to go deeper).

Jeremy begins by underscoring the importance of key structural decisions you make about how to build the firm in the first place. The channel you choose (e.g., RIA versus broker-dealer) impacts what tools you can use or solutions you can offer to clients in the first place (Episode 192). Having a fee structure that generates enough revenue per client (by AUM, planning, or subscription fees) is essential to be able to scale in the future (Episode 244). But you don’t have to get paid for everything you do, just enough to make the business work; thus the appeal of giving away parts of the initial planning process for free… because clients who really want and need your help will just ask you to implement for/with them, anyway (Episode 20)! All of which only works if you’re careful in managing your own spending and lifestyle creep as an advisor (so your personal upkeep doesn’t undermine the stability of the business, especially in its early years, per Episode 1).

Operationally, choosing the right platforms also matters, from selecting a tech-forward custodian (Episode 350), to truly making your CRM system the hub of the advisory business (Episode 272) – as does establishing the right team structure to leverage the lead advisor’s time while deepening (and diversifying) how many different people the client has a relationship with at the firm (Episode 248). Recognizing that not every client will be the right fit for the firm, it’s okay (for your business, and your personal health and sanity) to refer out the clients whose incoming phone call you’re already dreading anyway (Episode 233).

This creates the space to home in on how you want to serve your particular clientele – and the more clear you are about who your ideal client is, the easier it is to create a specialized offering (Episode 173). Which in the case of Silverstone Financial, means giving clients confidence by running their numbers in two different financial planning software platforms (Episode 285), raising at least 12 months of cash each year to give them more confidence in the midst of market volatility (Episode 391), and partnering with an external tax preparation firm to offer clients a “one-stop shop”, but not actually bringing the tax preparation in-house with your own CPA or EA (Episode 421)!

Ultimately, the key point is simply to recognize that while every advisory firm is different, almost every problem experienced by one advisor/founder has probably been experienced by another in a manner that is similar enough that we can all learn something by hearing each other’s journey. Podcasts like the Financial Advisor Success series provide an excellent library of lessons to absorb, whether you’re walking the dog, mowing the lawn, cooking in the kitchen, commuting, or exercising. Or as Jeremy puts it, “an hour and a half of walking [with the Financial Advisor Success podcast] … is a great way to pay down some of your health debt and build up some educational assets at the same time”.